Adjustable member for head protective equipment



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("Inn/11111101101751},

C. E. BOWERS Filed June 10, 1949 June 24, 1952 Patented June 24, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE MEMBER FOR HEAD PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT Charles Evans Bowers, Moylan, Pa., assignor to f The Fibre Metal Products Company, Chester,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania ApplicationJunc 10, 1949, Serial No. 98,328

2 Claims. (Cl. 28)

5 The presentinvention deals with headgears such as are commonly employed as the support- ;ing foundation for head protective equipment, and is concerned primarily with novel mechasigned to protect the head or face of a workman while engaged in dangerous activities. Such a headgear has now assumed a fairly well standardized conventional form. -It consists essentially of a head encircling band anda top cross piece which extends either from one sideto the other of the headband or from one endto the other. v l

In order to insure of, the accurate fit of such a headgear on the head of any particular workman [soas to provide a good supporting foundation, there have been provided headbands which are adjustable in extent. Thus, they may be adjusted to accurately fit the head of any particular wearer.

The present invention has in view as its foremost objective, the'provision of mechanism that is adapted to be included in the construction of an element of a headgear such as the headband or crosspiece and which mechanism is susceptible of quick and easyadjustment to vary the effective extent of the particular element in which it is included.

L More in detail, the invention has as an objectp the provision, in a headgear of thetype-indicated, ofan element such as a crosspiece which comprises two fiat strips of a material arranged in alignment with the confronting ends relatively adjustable to vary the effective extent of the crosspiece Secured to the end of one of these strips is a flattened-out casing which s lidably receives the end of the other strip. The latter end is' formed with a projection While the end which carries the casing has secured thereto a leaf spring formed with a plurality of openings,

any one of which is adapted to receive said projection. The particular opening in which the spring is received determines the effective extent of the crosspiece.

Another object of the invention is to provide,

end. A leaf spring is anchored to the inner face of the casing wall formed with the slot atone end thereof, and the other end passes between this casing wall and the strip which enters thereat. The leaf spring is adapted to be flexed, which action is permitted by the slot in the casing wall. When the spring is flexed, it is bowed outwardly and moved out of engagement with the projection. When the flexing force is removed and the spring straightened out, the bow iseliminated and the spring may be returned to its original condition, conforming to the shape of, the casing in which the projection is received in one of the openings in the spring.

Another somewhatmore detailed object of the invention is to provide, in adjusting mechanism of l the type noted, a leaf spring which has a free end that is suitably, shaped to facilitateits being flexed as it is engaged by the thumb of an operator.

Various other more detailed objects and advantages of the invention such as arise in connection with carrying out the above noted ideas in a practical embodiment-will, in part become apparent, and in part be hereinafter stated as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention therefore comprises novel adjusting mechanism that is incorporated in the crosspiece orheadband. of a headgear included as a part of head protective, equipment. The

adjusting mechanism consists essentially of a flattened-out casing curved to conform to the shape of a wearers head and which is anchored at one end to the end of a strip making up the particular element in which the adjustmg mechanism is included. The end of another strip P with a projection which is adapted to cooperate with any of a series of holes in said spring to complete a detachable connection between two strips and thereby determine the effective length of that element.

For a full and more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description and accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a face shield havinga headgear that includes a crosspiece that curved side edges 2! 3 is rendered adjustable by the adjusting mechanism of this invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the crosspiece shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through the crosspiece and adjusting mechanism and is taken about on the plane represented by the line 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a detailed top plan view of one strip and the leaf spring that is anchored thereto.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts, and first more partioularlyto Figure 1, a piece of protective equipment that is commonly known as a face shield is therein illustrated. In this connection, it is noted that the present invention is not to be confined to this particular type of protective equipment. It is susceptible of use with any head or face protective equipment which includes a headgear as a supporting foundation. As shown in Figure 1, the shield element I8 is anchored to a forehead covering part ii that is pivotally mounted on a headgear that is referred to in its entirety by the reference character H. This headgear H comprises a headband l2 and a crosspiece I3.

The effective extent of the headband I2 is adjustable due to the fact that an elastic band I4 is included as 'a part thereof. The effective extent of the crosspiece i3 may be varied by the adjusting mechanism now to be described.

The crosspiece I3 is shown as consisting essentially of two strips :5 and l 6 which may be made from an appropriate fibrous material that is adapted to be molded into a particular shape desired. These strips 15 and i6 have a curvature generally corresponding to that of a wearers head as is clearly brought out in Figures 1 and 3. The strip iii has an end designated IT and the strip it an end designated [8. These strips l5 and it are arranged in alignment with the ends i! and E8 in confronting spaced relation. The distance at which these ends are spaced apart determines the effective extent of the crosspiece I3.

A flattened-out casing is referred to in its entirety by the reference character C. This casing is also made from the fibrous material above identified. The casing comprises an outer wall [9 and an inner wall All which are joined by and 22. The casing C also has a curvature corresponding to that of the wearers head and which blends in with that of the strips and I6.

The outer casing wall it! is formed with an elongated slot 23 that is arranged substantially centrally thereof. It will be noted that the end I! of the strip i5 is disposed within the casing C between the walls is and 29. A leaf spring designated 2d .has one end positioned between the outer face of the strip i5 and the inner face of the outer casing wall [9. A rivet passes through aligned openings in the strip 55, spring 24, and outer casing wall it to securely anchor the casing C to the strip i5 and also to anchor one end of the spring 24 to this strip.

The spring 24 may be made from'any appropriate metal having desired properties of flexibility. Bronze may be taken as one exam ple of the metal from which this spring 24 is: made. This spring 2A is formed with a series of openings 25 which preferably are spaced uniformly therealong.

The end E8 of the strip i3 is also disposed within the casing iii. This means that the strip l6 passes between the walls 19 and 20 at one end of the casing. The end of the leaf spring 24 remote from the anchorage 25 passes between the inner face of the outer wall l9 and the outer face of the strip I6. The free end of the spring 24 is provided with an appropriate operating member such as the turned back end shown at 2?. It is evident that when this end is engaged by the thumb of the operator, pressure may be applied to the spring to cause an arching or howing thereof, the latter action being permitted by the slot 23. The spring 2 3 has a width slightly less than that of the slot 23 so that it may move therethrough in the manner depicted in Figure 3.

Adjacent the end I3 of the strip It, the latter is provided with a projection 28 that is adapted to enter and snugly interfit in any of the openings 26.

Operation As above explained, the effective length of the crosspiece i3 is determined by the distance between the ends IT and 18 of the strips [5 and I6. This distance in turn depends upon which of the openings 2'6 receives thepin 28.

When it is desired to make an adjustment, the operator places his hand about the strip 16 with the thumb bearing against the curled end 21 of the spring 2 5. An inner and endwise pressure is applied to the spring 24 and at the same time a force is applied to the strip 16 tending to move it inwardly. This action causes the spring 24 to be arched and bowed outwardly which releases that particular opening 26 which engaged the pin 28 from the latter. The strip I6 may now be freely moved within the casing C to bring the pin 28 into alignment with any opening 26 desired. The force which caused the bowing of the spring 24 is now relieved and the end 21 of the latter moved outwardly if necessary to flatten out. this spring and move it downwardly so that the pin 28 will be received in the opening 25 with which it has been aligned thereby completing the adjustment.

,It is evident that the foregoing adjustment may be quickly and easily carried out by any Workman and once any particular adjustment is attained, there is no danger of the crosspiece being accidently disturbed.

While the adjusting mechanism ofthis invention has been described as included in the crosspiece of a headgear, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not to be limited in this respect. The adjusting mechanism is equally susceptible of being included in the headband of such a headgear or a, crosspiece which extends from front to back.

While a preferred specific embodiment of the invention is herein'before set forth, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact constructions, mechanisms, and devices illustrated and described because Various modifications of these details may be provided in putting the invention into practice within the purview of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a headgear for protective equipment, an element, the eifective extent of which is to be varied and which element comprises two strips in alignment with their ends adjustably spaced apart, and mechanism for varying the distance between said spaced ends, said mechanism comprising a flattened-out casing having inner and outer walls curved to conform to the shape of a wearers head, said outer wall being formed with an elongated central slot, means for anchoring said casing to One of said strips with the end of the latter received in the casing, said casing slidably receiving the other of said strips, an outwardly extending projection on said lastmentioned strip adjacent to the end thereof, and a leaf spring having one end anchored to the strip to which said casing is secured and formed with a series of openings, any one of which is adapted to receive said projection, said spring being positioned in said slot through which it is adapted to move and having a free end positioned exteriorly of said casing with that portion of said spring adjacent said free end passing between the outer wall of said casing and the strip which is slidabletherein.

2. In a headgear for protective equipment, an element, the effective extent of which is to be varied and which element comprises two strips in alignment with their ends adjustably spaced apart, and mechanism for varying the distance between said spaced ends,said mechanism comprising a flattened-out casing having inner and outer walls curved to conform to the shape of a wearers head, said outer wall being formed with an elongated central slot, means for anchoring said casing to one of said strips with the end of the latter received in the casing, said casing slidably receiving the other of said strips, an outwardly extending projection on said last-mentioned strip adjacent to the end thereof, a leaf spring having one end anchored to the strip to which said casing is secured and formed with a series of openings, any one of which is adapted to receive said projection, said spring being positioned in said slot through which it is adapted to move and having a free end positioned exteriorly of said casing with that portion of said spring adjacent said free end passing between the outer wall of said casing and the strip which is slidable therein, and a thumb engaging member on said free end of said leaf sprin in the form of a turned-back end of said spring.

CHARLES EVANS BOWERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

